Keaton's Letter, Page 1

It was an incredible Celebration of Life Service wasn't it?  (We flatly refuse to call it a funeral... that's a term that doesn't fit the legacy that Keaton left!)  It has taken me a couple of weeks to reflect on it all, and gather the courage to write this post.  Dang, we miss our boy don't we?

At the service, we were reminded from Scripture (2 Corinthians 3) that God is STILL in the letter-writing business.  The bible is complete in every way, but the author of it continues to write.  Instead of paper and ink, He now uses the lives of His followers as His letters. The more we "follower-types" align our decisions and behaviors with the bible, the more impact our "letters" will have on a hurting world.  Blogs are great.  Twitter is great.  I'm told Facebook is great.  But those things don't write our letters.  The decisions we make and the actions we take write the letters.  Our intentions get NO press whatsoever.

God wrote an AMAZING letter to the world through Keaton's life.  I thought I'd take a stab at writing down some of the things I read in that letter.  Perhaps reading a few of my observations will prompt YOU to write down one or two that YOU read in Keaton's letter. Together, we'll piece it together bit by bit. Today, I'm just starting with page one.

Dear World,
My name is Keaton - not Karson.  Karson is my big brother.  He's ridiculously talented.  You know how people are supposed to be EITHER right-brained OR left-brained?  It just so happens, Karson is both.  He's a brainiac, and he's artistic, and he's a mechanical genuis.  That's a hard act to follow - so I never tried.  The bible says that God put ME together in a very intentional way. (Psalm 139). So I figured if God went to the trouble of thinking me up on purpose, the least I could do to repay Him is actually BE me.  I really love my brother, and I loved that even after he got married, he still made sure he and Calah had plenty of time for me.  So even though Karson is an amazing person, what a waste it would have been of MY life to try to be just like HIM.  Besides, I was pretty awesome, don't you think?

My name is Keaton - not Kanler.  Kanler is my other big brother.  He's an athletic beast, AND a really nice guy. Karson and I both loved sports as much as Kanler did, but for some reason, God put more athlete juice in Kanler than He did us. (We NEVER admitted that out loud - ESPECIALLY to Kanler.  NEVER!  That would go against the code of brotherhood bashing.)  But the truth is, Kanler had more trophies in his room by the time he was 5 than I could amass in a lifetime.  So even though I loved playing football WITH Kanler, I didn't try to be him either.  (But let's be clear...if you tried to tackle my QB brother... I made you pay.  Nobody got to do THAT to him except ME.) So instead of trying to be just like Kanler, do you know what I did instead?  I had the audacity to believe that God told the TRUTH in Ephesians 2... that not only did He think me up on purpose, He planned some stuff for ME to do in the world that might be different that He planned for Kanler.  So if I spent all my time trying to be just like Karson, or just like Kanler... I'd miss out on the things God had planned just for ME.  Hey, you want to know something funny?  NOW, both of my brothers want to be like ME!  That cracks me up!

My name is Keaton and even though Hollywood and the Disney Corporation take every opportunity to portray parents as complete idiots, I want you to know that it's okay to actually love your Mom and Dad and have fun hanging out with them.  I don't regret one single minute I spent with them.  Not one single minute.  I'm one of the lucky ones.  My parents are incredible, so they were easy to love.  Frankly, yours may NOT be so easy to love.  But here's something I learned:  when I chose to love and respect my parents - consistently, THEY became better people because of that love.  You should try it.  When God lives in your heart... He makes it possible to love people who aren't that lovable.  HE does it through you.  

My name is Keaton and I'm not embarrassed to say "I love you, bro" to my close friends.  Don't be so full of yourself that you think you're too cool for that stuff.  You KNOW you want to hear it.  So why not start it?  I dare you football players to try it this year... especially my O-Line brothers.  Say it when you leave practice.  Say it after you win a game, and especially after you lose a game.  God says that the world will know we're His followers... not by how often we make it to church and youth group, and not even by how often we're seen totin' our bible... the world will know based on how well we love each other.  Maybe I'm over-simplifying it, but SAYING it just seems like a pretty easy place to start.

My name is Keaton, and I think whining is a big fat waste of time.  Trust me on this one, "time" is something you have in limited supply.  I'm not too high on feeling sorry for myself either, just in case you're wondering.  I happen to believe God is good ALL the time.  I believe it because the bible TELLS me He is good.  I do NOT wait to see how my day is going to play out before I decide whether or not God is good TODAY.  He's good ALL the time. I don't really know why I got brain cancer.  I don't think I did anything wrong.  I don't think my parents fed me the wrong stuff when I was little.  I don't think it's because I occasionally rode my bike without a helmet when my mom wasn't watching.  I just think stuff like cancer happens in our world.  And for reasons we may never know until Jesus comes back, God didn't STOP it in my case.  He could have.  But He didn't.  It was part of the stuff He had for ME to do that He didn't plan for Karson or Kanler.  I tried my best to show you guys that even though I had cancer, and had to do some things before school and on weekends that YOU didn't have to do (you know... like chemo and radiation and a few brain surgeries and various and sundry hospital stays) - God was making me strong enough to handle it... and still be fairly normal.  I did that pretty well, didn't I?

My name is Keaton, and although I didn't talk about it out loud very much... sometimes I DID feel fear.  The world will try to make you feel like you're not a real man if you're ever afraid.  That's a lie.  Everybody feels afraid sometimes.  But REAL men (and real women) know where to go and what to do when they feel afraid.  Me?  I was one of those real men.  I read my bible, and it made me feel stronger.  And know this, I didn't always know HOW to read my bible on my own. Church helped some.  But what REALLY helped were smaller groups.  A thing God used to teach me a TON was DiscipleNow Weekends.  You should ask my brothers or my parents about it if you're interested.  It was during those weekend retreats when I learned HOW to use my bible to actually HELP me when I needed some help.  I just took notes right on the pages of my bible.  I knew I'd probably lose little journals or notebooks, but I knew there was NO WAY I was going to lose my bible.  

After my Celebration of Life service, my family gathered around the kitchen table and read some of those notes I had in my bible.  I think it made them feel better.  Here's a zoomed-in shot of that picture above... it's one thing that helped my family ALOT when they read it.

 My handwriting was always terrible, so let me interpret for you!  The note says: "When things are bad for me, look at 2 Timothy 4:6-8."  Now why did reading that make my family feel better?  Sometimes, I think my family wondered if I even really understood how serious it was to have brain cancer.  Of course I did.  I just didn't talk about it much because that wasn't my style.  But during those times when I actually felt a little bit afraid, the words of 2 Timothy 4:6-8 made me feel peaceful.  Here's what it says:

"For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing."

That's an awesome passage.  On hard days, I kept asking myself: "Keaton, did you fight the good fight today - or were you wimpy?  Did you hang on to your faith - or did you doubt that God was stronger than cancer?  Did you quit or did you finish the drill?"  As long as my answers to those questions lined up with the blue verses, I could kick fear to the curb and get back to being the laid-back dude I was born to be!  Strength isn't the absence of fear.  Strength is overpowering fear with truth.

My name is Keaton, and I discovered something really cool.  I found out that when I focused on helping OTHER people or blocked for OTHER people or prayed for OTHER people... I felt joy.  That's in the bible you know.  I learned it first from watching my parents and then I learned it at church.   The world tells you to "look out for number one."  That's certainly one way to go - but it's complete crap.  The bible says it this way in Philippians 2:4 "Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."    It's your life, but I can guarantee that the blue words work.  Joy happens.  Test it out.  I had cancer, but one of the things that kept me from getting really depressed about that was focusing on OTHER people.  I prayed for my friends and family.  I visited a younger kid who had cancer... a little girl named Kylie.  (Ya'll keep praying for her, ok?)  Here's the deal:  An outward focus leads to inner joy.  That'll tweet.

My name is Keaton, and now that I'm in heaven - I can tell you a secret: I was actually a prophet while I was on earth.  Who knew?!?!  Here's the proof.  On the last page of my bible, I wrote these words:

  Now that I'm hanging out with Jesus every single day... I know for SURE that the words I wrote on the last page of my bible were absolutely TRUE!  He was worth every dose of chemo and every doctor visit.  He was worth every stinkin' MRI on my big body in that little tube.  He was worth every needle prick.  He was worth all 30 of those radiation treatments.  He was worth losing all my hair and then having it grow back funny.  He was worth seizures and losing my legal right to drive my dang new car. He was worth every every every thing!!  The bible talks about it formally in 2 Corinthians 4, but the Keaton-translation is simply: HE IS WORTH IT!  If you don't believe it yet - or you aren't sure - go talk to my big brother, Karson, who happens to be a pastor.  He knows it too.  He even got it tattooed on his arm.  THAT is a sign of being SURE!  (Cool tat bro!)

Well... I think that's probably enough for page one.  Ya think?  So here's what I'd love for you to do.  If you have an observation to include in the letter that God wrote to the world through Keaton's life, email it to me at marybethcook@bellsouth.net.  Put "Keaton's Letter" in the subject line and start your email with "My name is Keaton..."  When/if I get enough from you guys for Page Two... I'll add it to the blog.  I think Keaton's parents would really love it.  

At the candlelight service at Flowery Branch High School on the evening of July 18th, the coach made reference to the way Keaton stayed positive - even when he couldn't get his words out because of the tumors.  During those times, Keaton replied with a "thumbs up."  The football team will be using that hand signal this season.  A friend of our family, Kathe Nelson, who was at that candlelight service - sent me this photograph.  I thought it a fitting way to end Page One.  No matter what life is throwing at you... keep your knees prayerfully bent, your attitude faithfully positive, your focus on others, and your thumbs UP!  He's worth it y'all.  He is.